February Hiring Shows Signs of Real Economic Recovery

By CareerCast.com/JobSerf

Indications of the beginnings of an economic recovery are reflected in the latest CareerCast.com/JobSerf Employment Index, as national managerial hiring climbed 4.9 points in February, following a 2.2 point increase in January. While the index level is below the Feb. level of 2012, it does reflect job growth across all regions with more to come.

“All of the cities in our Index showed positive growth. If this is maintained, it will be a sign of a real recovery,” says JobSerf CEO Jay Martin.

That’s good news for an economy that has been slow to rebound from its worst dip since the Great Depression. Since reaching its low-point in 2009, recovery has been gradual with frequent dips along the way. For example, the January 2013 CareerCast.com/Jobserf Index was slightly below the pre-recession, January 2008 numbers.

Every city showed higher per capita hiring in February than a month ago. Fueling this growth was the quelling of fears, which stemmed from the debt and budget negotiations in Washington, D.C.

“The impact of the budget battle was strongly felt in hiring at the start and middle of the month,” says Martin.

However, the impact was curbed late in February, leveling out in the positive job numbers reported in the index.

How do we determine these numbers?

The CareerCast.com/JobSerf Employment Index calculates the number of available managerial job openings each month by surveying a wide range of local and national job boards across the U.S, with all results hand-counted and checked for duplication by a team of researchers.

What does an overall Index score of 103.9 for February 2013 mean? The Index measures employment activity against a base score of 100, which represents the volume of job openings during the same period in 2008. A score higher than 100 means that there are more available jobs than in 2008, while one below 100 means that job seekers now have fewer opportunities available. Over the past 55 months, the CareerCast.com/JobSerf Index is higher at 103.9 than in February 2008.